Syria: Arab League Deadline Expires, Turkey Says ‘Ready For Action’
By MISNA
Ready for action in accordance with the Arab countries: This is the gist of a speech by Turkey’s minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmet Davutoglu, during a press conference in Istanbul in which he warned the Syrian regime to take unspecified initiatives.
Davutoglu referred to the Arab League’s ultimatum to Syria, which gave Syria 24 hours to accept unconditionally the deployment of 500 international observers in Syria while also taking measures to put an end to the repression of dissenters. The ultimatum (which expired at 13:00 hrs), said diplomatic sources to the Arab press, has elapsed without any representatives from Damascus appearing at the League’s headquarters.
In the event of Syria’s refusal to comply, Arab foreign affairs ministers have already planned a meeting later Sunday to determine more economic sanctions, which rumors suggest, could include another blockade of commercial flights, the suspension of relations with the Syrian financial institutions and the freezing of its assets. At the summit, as noted by Davutoglu himself, Turkey would also participate.
